Bedford vs Christ's Hospital full boarding

[Vero0105]

Hi, we don't live in England and we want to send our son next year to full boarding school, year 10 'Remove' for the last 4 years. He is good in maths, science and art and he likes to play rugby.
He passed the assessments for both schools and he had a sleepover in both. He prefers Christ's Hospital, only we as parents are still not completely convinced. If he does well, he will choose to study IB for the final 2years. Please, all advice is welcome.

Christs is definitely full boarding with with day pupils who are in the minority. In the U.K. there are only a small number of actual true full boarding schools with no or only handful of day pupils as far as I'm aware Beford is not one of them.

thank you Happy gardening for your reply. Do you know if it is a happy school and how it is vs Bedford? Thanks

What didn't you like about CH?

Why did your DS prefer it?

There's someone on here who posts under the name derekthehamster or something similiar she has a DC at Christ's and talks highly of it but I do believe she says it's a "marmite" school. Lots of meaningless ritual and children from a wide variety of backgrounds due to their big bursary scheme . We have a friend who sent her DC there it just wasn't what they hoped it would be for the money (they weren't on a bursary) and moved her after two years.

I know two happy girls at CH, and have only heard positive things. The older one is a full fee payer who is in the 6th form and has been there since year year 7.

HG is correct in that Bedford school is not a full boarding school. It is day and boarding and a third of the school board. It is a fabulous school with a solid reputation and from what I've seen. It also has a very good academic record. I know not much about Christ Hospital but I believe has an equally good reputation and probably more boarders if that is what you are looking forward to.

Sorry, not 'looking forward to', don't know where that came from. Meant to say 'if that's what you're looking for'.

Hi, My DS is at CH in yr 12. It is a full boarding school with the minority (maybe 2/3 pupils per house) daily boarding.

As Happygardening says it is a marmite school, but DS is very happy there, couldn't care less about the meaningless rituals and is doing well.

We had a few pastoral issues as he hasn't been well for the last couple of years, the school were fantastic in finding ways around his issues.

What are you unsure about and what aspects did your DS like?

I'm so frustrated OP hasn't come back!!!

Most of the "meaningless rituals" are good preparation for corporate life I reckon

I don't know what sort of "corporate life" you do but I don't anyone in the corporate world who wears totally outdated uniform and goes into lunch behind a band!
I'm the first to accept some people love meaningless ritual and it adds to their overall satisfaction with their DC's schools but personally I loathe it and if you feel like I do then you obviously need to avoid schools that has lots of it.
I dont think it's necessary to be prepared for it by your school or university if your hoping for a career in the corporate world. A friend who works in and also recruits graduates in this field and was talking the other day about what he was looking for and unsurprisingly a 2:1 minimum from a good univetsity, life skills, people skills initiative etc were mentioned but not familiarity with meaningless ritual.

the meaningless processes and procedures that are outmoded and outdated but are here to stay, plenty of them!!!

I love meaningless ritual of the CH kind. Its a window into some of the weirdness of life and can be quite satisfying.

Random I'm surprised lots of our friends work in the corporate world bankers "professional services organisations" corporate law etc (often very very successfully it appears) but none mention meaningless ritual in their work. Clearly you have a different experience!
Mums I think many think like you (which is fine) I think they feel that boarding meaningless and let's not forget outdated ridiculous uniform ritual go hand in hand and are part of the package their paying for.

CH is a very different school with a unique ethos. I think the rituals emphasise this. At the end of the day, the pupils enjoy being different.

Plus the fact the housey is very warm in winter and free! I'm always amazed at the number who wear it out of hours.

I went to boarding school in bedford, Dame Alice Harpur, they have discontinued boarders now. i then lived in Bedford for several years after that and it is a goddamned shit hole, full of drug lords and drunks. We were constantly in trouble there and really went of the rails.
Funnily enough and quite a coincidence given your post I lived in Horsham right next to Christs Hospital and Horsham is MUCH nicer with pupils less likely to get into trouble. It had a pretty good reputation and I'd much rather send my child there than Bedford.

That's a bit harsh about Bedford, Mermaid! I went to The Other Girls school there (day girl though) and never took drugs, didn't get into trouble, had a perfectly normal childhood.

I think it depends on the child. There is nothing innate about Bedford which means school children will go off the rails!

Mermaid - What a ridiculous generalisation. So because you and your mates were having around drug lords years ago, no one would go to school in a Bedford. That would apply to London anmany ohe owns as well.

Bedford town will certainly not win any prizes for town of the year, it's not a quaint little English town with lovely coffee shops lining the streets. It's a very ethically diverse historical town,, with a variety of its own little atttractions e.g the River. It certainly has not got a reputation for steaming drunk people hanging around the streets and drug pushers.

Bedford school in itself has an outstanding reputation and although I can see why OP may prefer CH for boarding from overseas, it still is a great school academically and pastorally.

This. My DD's are at BGS and interact with Bedford boys regularly both at BGS and Bedford. It's a fantastic school and I would have had no hesitation in sending my kids there had they been boys.

Both of my girls were educated in Bedford and the youngest is still at Sixth Form there. My eldest is now at Uni and both have definitely not 'gone off the rails' or mixed with drug lords and drunks hahaha! I admit we live in Milton Keynes, but no doubt Mermaid would have a good description of that too. I agree with MumsBet, Bedford has good and bad areas but is not the den of iniquity Mermaid has described.

If you are abroad your dc will be much happier in a school where the majority of students stay in on a Saturday night. These are few and far between.

Luckily CH is full boarding and even on exeat weekends, 1 house is left open for those students unable to go home.

I went to one of the girls schools in Bedford and my mum taught at the other I left Bedford at 18 and haven't gone back!! I think Bedfo d school has a good reputation as a school but I wouldn't rush to live there - although my parents and sister stil do